It’s October, and apart from Christmas decorations showing up in department stores, that can only mean one thing – the run up to Hallowe’en!
Hallowe’en can mean many different things to different people, however most customers will expect some kind of spooky festivities to spice up their evening, so here are a few tips and tricks to get you in the ghoulish mood!
(Don’t forget that you may need some extra insurance or temporary licenses for whatever you’re planning, so apply for these as soon as possible to avoid being caught short. If you need any help or advice on the matter, please don’t hesitate to contact us).
Decorations
The most obvious step is décor – it doesn’t have to be particularly scary, especially if you’re aiming for the event to be family friendly, but a theme is the ideal way to get people involved. Purple, orange and black are all traditional hallowe’en-y colours. All the usual staples, such as balloons, cobwebs and pumpkins are perfectly valid. However, you could switch it up a bit with themed sweet bowls or bedsheet ghosts in the windows. Remember to be extra careful if you’re considering Jack-o-lanterns. Real pumpkins will go off and go smelly pretty quickly when exposed to a naked flame, and if you’re family friendly you’re going to want to keep the candles out of reach of children. You may want to use battery powered tealights instead of the real thing.
Food
Spooky cupcakes are always a winner, along with creepy treats such as gummy worms and themed chocolate shapes. After all, most of us associate Hallowe’en with trick or treating! Doing an internet search for ‘Hallowe’en treats’ will render a vast amount of top ten lists and the like, so take your pick! You could always sell baked goods and bags of sweets for a charity of your choice; people are more inclined to join in if it’s for a good cause. Not to mention it will improve your reputation within the local community!
Fancy Dress
Remember – nothing too horrifying or messy! Staff in costume may be fun, but you need to make sure they remember that they’re working first. You don’t want stray cobwebs or bits of fake injury falling into customers’ drinks. However, encouraging your patrons to go all out with something like a costume competition could drastically improve your attendance on the night. And once again, you could do it in aid of a charity of your choice.
Priya Vijayakumar